How to create an

early-stage pitch deck.

Ryan Spoon: ryanspoon.com

Polaris Venture Partners: polaris.vc
Dogpatch Labs: dogpatchlabs.com
About Us:
Sample Companies
Intro
- I’ve seen 1,000s of early stage decks over last 2 yrs
- Most mistakes are relatively common
- And most mistakes are easily addressed
- This is a guide to creating your pitch deck
- Warning: it’s just one investor’s advice :)

Two parts to this walkthrough:

1. Five overarching guidelines
2. An example structure & flow
Five Themes / Guidelines
1. A Great One-Liner
Think of it as your elevator pitch… in one sentence.
It’s a hybrid of:
- Your product / vision
- Your company purpose
- A starting point for the pitch

Common framework: “We are X for Y”*

*assuming X is attractive and Y is a big enough opportunity!
2. Know Your Audience

Before crafting a pitch deck, understand:

- Who you are meeting with?
- What is the investor’s and the firm’s focus?
- Are there related investments?
- How much time do you have?

These influence your deck, the discussion and

likely questions you’ll be asked.
3. 10-15 Slides

The deck is important...

But the conversation is more important.

Budget your time accordingly.

Allow for discussion alongside each slide.

10-15 slides. Max.

Will provide suggested structure later in deck
4. Beware the Demo
For early stage companies, it’s all about product.
And the best mark of product is market validation.

Demos are great… but remember these four rules:

1. Be careful of time.
2. Don’t get lost in product.
3. Have backup if (when!) something goes wrong.
4. Give even weight to product & traction / data.
5. Expect the Deck to be Shared

Whether you like it or not (!),

your deck will be shared (i.e. among partnership).

Goal: be equally compelling with/without voiceover.

How?
- deck should tell its own story.
- do *not* rely on builds, intricate slides.
- make the file size manageable for email.
- PDF or secure URL are great alternatives to PPT.
Suggested Structure.
(remember: 10-15 slides)
The Flow

The Big Idea

Why you?

The current problem

Your solution. Why now?

Traction & validation

What’s the future?

The ask
Remember: 10-15 Slides

The Big Idea 1-2 slides

Why you? 1 slide

The current problem 2-4 slide

Your solution. Why now? 3-5 slides

Traction & validation 2-4 slides

What’s the future? 1-2 slide

The ask 1 slide

1. Vision

The Big Idea - Expanded company one-liner

- The big vision: today & tomorrow

http://www.businessinsider.com/this-is-the-first-pitch-deck-foursquare- http://www.businessinsider.com/airbnb-a-13-billion-dollar-startups-first-ever-
ever-showed-investors-2011-12?op=1 pitch-deck-2011-9#-1
2. The Team
Why are you the right team for the problem?

- Include management team and advisors, investors

- Include bios with key, relevant experience
- Outline division of responsibilities

Think an expanded
AngelList team profile

http://angel.co/visually
3. The Market…
4. The Opportunity
The current problem
Your solution
- Customer / consumer pains?
- How are they solving today?
- How will they solve with you?
- How is it different than market?

- Why is solution possible today?

Why now? - Why is it right for today, tomorrow?

- How big is the market?

- How big can you be?
- What value are you creating?
- Be realistic!
Airbnb: Problem, Solution,
Market Size, Market Potential
Mint: Market size, Landscape,
Product / Market Fit
5. Your Product….
6. Your Traction
You’ve set the stage…
now show off the product and traction / validation:

I want to know:
- is the product resonating?
- is it trending in the right direction?
- engagement, engagement, engagement
engagement data > user acquisition!
- What are your KPIs? Goals?
 ReadyForZero: Product Traction

Traction can be shown

through acquisition,
usage, retention, etc.

ReadyForZero showed
user activity as
measure of product
efficacy:

Users pay-off debt 2x

faster than non-users
7. The Future: 12mo & Out
So far, you’ve spent the deck outlining team, product
and success to-date.

Now talk about what’s next…

And how it ties into the big vision and the fundraise.

What are the next 12-24 months of:

- Product - People
- Performance - Finances
8. The Ask

A pitch deck cannot crescendo without a clear ask

(aka what you are looking for):
- What size investment are you looking for?
- How long does it get you?
- How will you spend it?
- What are goals before raising the next round?
- How else can the investor(s) help?

This is commonly overlooked… but easy to create!

Learn more.
Connect with us.

polaris.vc dogpatchlabs.com ryanspoon.com

@polarisvc @dogpatchlabs @ryanspoon
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